According to a report on Kol Yisrael radio, Haniyeh made the comments to pro-Palestinian Authority activists from several Arab and Muslim countries. Haniyeh claimed that providing aid to Israel will encourage it “to continue its war crimes.”

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the United States will immediately give Israel $70 million for additional Iron Dome batteries.

Washington has already given Israel $205 million for the Iron Dome systems. Panetta said: “Our goal is to ensure that Israel has the necessary financing every year in order to produce these batteries that protect its citizens.”

Hamas has in the past accused Israel of using Gaza as an experiment field for the Iron Dome and for other IDF weapons, ignoring the fact that the system was developed because terrorists from Gaza continuously fir rockets at Israel’s south.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)